That's nice, but I rarely trust driverless metros... there needs to be some human factor in the machine. What if someone is stuck? What if there is an unforseen scenario? Dubai is building all these multibillion projects, and it's trying to save money on not hiring a subway driver for five bucks an hour?

Dubai: Emaar will finance a Metro station near the Burj Dubai, which will be the world's tallest building on completion.

"It is the first public-private sector agreement for the Dubai Metro project and many more will follow," said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

Emaar will spend Dh100 million on the construction of the station, which will be designed and constructed by RTA.

A corridor will link the station at Shaikh Zayed Road with Burj Dubai and its surrounding areas.

Al Tayer said the RTA recently signed an agreement with the Department of Civil Aviation for the construction of two stations in front of Terminals 1 and 3 of Dubai International Airport.

"[The] agreement comes in line with the RTA's policy to involve private sector in the RTA's projects," Al Tayer said. He said the station would serve the Burj Dubai community, including the largest shopping centre in the world.

Ahmad Thani Al Matroushi, Managing Director of Emaar, said: "We will provide all possible support to RTA in implementing its project to meet the transportation needs of Dubai."

Recent articles tell us that 320km or metro line are planned for 2020, and that's not including the various monorails and trams on the palms and various other projects

A map by me, the 4 coloured lines for the metro are shown, the yellow are palm monorails (only the palm jumeirah one is under construction but the others will definitely have something similar), the black is a tram line.

Some images:

Some recent articles:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krazy

Dubai expands metro network with Purple Line

Dubai: The Dubai government has decided to expand the city's metro network by adding a fourth line that will serve new communities along Al Khail Road.

The Purple Line - an express line between Dubai International Airport and Jebel Ali Airport - will open by 2012 and will be in addition to the Blue Line that will run on Emirates Road and also connect the airports.

Both lines will be linked to the Red and Green lines currently under construction. "There will be a complete network of metro services ... there are plans to add more lines in future," said Abdul Majid Khaja, CEO of Dubai Metro at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

The RTA will also extend tram services from Al Sufouh Road to Jumeirah Road and it will be linked to metro stations on Shaikh Zayed Road.

The total length of the Dubai metro system is estimated to be 318km by 2020, including 69.7km of the Red and Green lines. "We are expanding because we want people to leave their cars and use the metro once it is ready," said Al Khaja.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krazy

Purple Line to link airports

Dubai: Some 96 kilometres will be added to the Dubai Metro network, with the addition of Purple and Blue railway lines.

The total length of the Red and the Green Lines, part of the earlier plan, is 69.7km.

The Road and Transport Authority has announced the construction of 49km long Purple Line and an approximately 47km long Blue Line.

According to the RTA, Dubai will have a total of 318km of metro lines by 2020 as some more tracks will be added gradually with the development of the city.

The 49km-long Purple Line will be an express track and it will link Dubai International Airport with Jebel Ali Airport. It will have only eight stations and will be operational by 2012 - two years after the completion of the Red and the Green Lines.

Abdul Majeed Khaja, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Metro at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), the Blue Line will run on Emirates Road while the Purple Line will be constructed on Al Khail Road and serve new communities coming up along this road.

Change in plan

"Although the Blue Line was planned earlier, we have decided to construct the Purple Line first because more development is coming up on Al Khail Road," Al Khaja told journalists at an informal meeting held on Wednesday.

Al Khaja said the metro work was going at a fast pace. "We have completed 25 per cent of work on the Red Line."

He said 52.1km Red Line from Dubai-Abu Dhabi borders to Rashidiya will now have 29 stations as one more station has been added for the Mall of Emirates.

"We are on schedule and will complete the project within the given time," said Al Khaja.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krazy

Green Line work to start soon

Dubai: The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority has awarded contract for the Green Line and the construction will start soon.

The Green Line - which is 17.6km-long - will have 14 station and will be operational in March 2010. It will have 7.6km underground track and 10km of elevated track. "The Dh5.7 billion Green Line contract has been awarded to the contractor who is building the Red Line," said Adnan Al Hammadi, Director of Construction of the Dubai Metro at the RTA. The contractor for the Dubai Metro is Dubai Rapid Link (DURL) consortium headed by Mitsubishi Corp of Japan.

"The construction on the Green Line will put more constrain on the authority and the residents as it will be carried out in the busy Central Business Districts of Deira and Bur Dubai," said Al Hammadi.

He said the major construction activity will start in January next year with the start of the tunnelling work. The tunnel boring machine will arrive in November and the tunnelling will start in January from Union Square station to Burjuman Centre Station.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krazy

Nakheel and RTA meet on linking Metro to projects

High-level officials from Dubai World’s Nakheel Properties and the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) have met to study proposals to link the Metro system to feeder systems serving some of Nakheel’s developments.

The teams discussed several plans like linking Palm Jumeirah’s monorail system to the Metro and the tramway planned for Al Sufouh Road, a major thoroughfare; connecting the network to Jumeirah Lake Towers and Ibn Battuta Mall; and linking Palm Deira to Metro services.

The two sides said that connecting Palm Jumeirah’s monorail to the Metro network and the tramways of Al Sufouh Road will require constructing the two stations as close to each other as possible in order to ensure convenience.

They also said that it is essential for the stations to meet the needs of the Jumeirah Lake Towers project.

The meeting was one of the highest level of contacts between Dubai World and the Roads and Transport Authority aimed at co-ordinating the mass transport requirements of Nakheel’s iconic Palm Island projects.

Adnan Al Naqi, the Managing Director of Palm Deira and General Executive Co-ordinator of Dubai World, said: “The talks are intended to secure the highest level of co-ordination and to enhance the principles of true strategic partnership adopted by Dubai World in its relations with different government authorities.”

Al Tayer visits the progress of work in Dubai Metro stations in the Emirates Mall, Burj Al Arab and Burj Dubai

HE Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), conducted a field tour to a number of work sites in Dubai Metro project, which included a visit to the site of a concrete pillar in Jebel Ali and Metro stations in the Emirates Mall, Burj Al-Arab and Burj Dubai.

Al Tayer was accompanied during this visit, which lasted nearly five hours, by Abdul Majid Al Khaja, CEO of the Rail Agency, Engineer Adnan Al-Hamadi, Director of Rail Construction Department, Engineer Abdul Redha Abulhasan, Director of Rail Planning and Design Department, Engineer Ali Abdul Qader, Director of the Maintenance Department, as well as number of officials from the Executive Consultant Office supervising the project.

Al Tayer started his tour with a visit to the construction of the pillars of concrete on the 6th and 7th intersections on Sheikh Zayed road, which is located on an area of more than 539,000 square meters. The site has been equipped and the main equipment has been installed in ten months, which included two workshops for the production of upper bridges to the Metro and upper columns and stereotypes. He was told about the work being done at the site, which includes the establishment of below beams (pillars) with a diameter of 2,2 meters and a depth ranging from 25 to 30 meters.

Al Tayer also visited the construction work of "Jumairah Islands launching Girder" which is a used to lift and collect and put all upper pieces (Bridges) for the Metro and installed over the columns prepared in advance. The length of the equipment is 109 meters long and 13 meters in width, and 15 meters height.

He also visited the Burj Al Arab station which will start core business in January 2007, after the completion of the converting work 80% of electricity, water and irrigation services. The capacity of the station is about 11,000 passengers per hour in each direction, including two elevated entrances and electrical elevators and has a total length of approximately 130 meters and 30 meters of width.

H.E Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of RTA also visited the construction sites of Emirates Mall station which are considered the latest addition of the Red Line, and will be the upper station lifted from Earth and on the grade level of the bridge.

Al Tayer ended his exploratory tour with a visit to the Burj Dubai station, which will be lifted from the ground level of the bridge, with a total length of approximately 132 meters, and approximately 29 meters of width, and has a capacity of 11,000 passengers per hour in each direction for the station, including the two elevated entrances and electrical elevators.

He listened also to a presentation on the progress of work on the conversion of services, which began in the middle of this month and will be completed within the next three months.

He praised the efforts of employees who work hard and requested the execution company to make more effort to finish the project on time, stressing that the Dubai Metro will be a distinct feature and adds to the series of integrated projects in the emirate on various levels.

BTW, alot of the underground tunels will be build using the cut-and-cover technique. Boring will be used only where the first method isn't possible, such when it passes under the Dubai Creek or when the tracks pass under a very dense aerea with no wide enough roads, to cut to.

Dubai: Al Bugeisha, the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for the Dubai Metro, has begun tunnelling work for the underground rail tracks, said a senior official.

The TBM has been named Al Bugeisha after the small desert rodent found in Asia and North Africa and is known by that name in the UAE for its characteristics of burrowing.

Breakthrough

"The success of the TBM in breaking through the wall is a significant achievement and is a major part of construction for the underground part of the Dubai Metro project," said Adnan Al Hammadi, Director of Construction at Dubai Metro.

He said it is one of the most critical stages during construction of the tunnel. The tailor-made TBM has been assembled in Japan especially for Dubai's Metro.

"The machine has been manufactured to bore through hard rocks or sand layers and almost anything in between," said Al Hammadi.

"Al Bugeisha has successfully broken through the tunnel for the underground part of the Red Line for the Metro from Union Square in Deira towards Burjuman Centre - the two major underground stations where the Red and Green Lines will cross each other," said Al Hammadi.

The machine will also pass under the Dubai Creek for tunnelling work. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has already completed the survey and determined the route of the work. "The tunnel will pass under the creek up to a length of 1.6 km and at a maximum depth of 30 metres. He said the residents will not feel any impact of tunnelling work because there will hardly be any vibration," he added.

Minimum disturbance

Al Bugeisha has a diameter of 9.56 metres, is 82 metres long and weighs 1,000 tonnes.

TBM's are used as an alternative to drilling and blasting methods and have the advantage of minimum disturbance to the soil by producing a smooth tunnel wall. "This significantly reduces the cost of lining the tunnel," Al Hammadi said.

The second TBM shaft at Union Square is also complete. It will be used to tunnel from Union Square to Al Rigga and from there to City Centre.

The Dh15.5 billion Dubai Metro project has a Red and Green line with a total length of 69.7km. There will be a total of 12.3km of underground metro line."

Being Dubai, I would have expected them to build maglev at least to the moon, or the oort cloud.

__________________The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth GalbraithWe must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.Elie Wiesel

That's nice, but I rarely trust driverless metros... there needs to be some human factor in the machine. What if someone is stuck? What if there is an unforseen scenario? Dubai is building all these multibillion projects, and it's trying to save money on not hiring a subway driver for five bucks an hour?

Great project nevertheless. Dubai continues to kick ass.

Have you ever been on a driverless metro? SkyTrain in the Vancouver, Canada region has been running quickly, safely and efficiently since 1986, and has been massively expanded since (a new third line is being added south to the airport in time for the 2010 Olympics).

The system uses a train system built by Bombardier. In fact, the new Mark II cars and the stations and track construction of the recently completed second (Millenium) line and under-construction third line look very similar to those of the Dubai metro system, from what I can see from these pictures.

It's also the same technology in use in Kuala Lumpur, the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, and the JFK AirTrain in NYC.